I did not have The Black Crowes in concert on my 2024 bingo card. For one, their mere existence is a bit miraculous given their somewhat tumultuous history centring around the relationship with the brothers Robinson. And two, my main focus in seeing shows and reviewing them here for MetalTalk is in the area of stoner/desert rock.
The Black Crowes
Massey Hall, Toronto – 24 April 2024
Photography: Melanie Webster
Words: Sunil Singh
I have zero interest in seeing bands for nostalgic reasons. It’s like going back to your high school reunion–you only risk disappointment with how things are now.
As a music fan, I am only concerned about the now.
And you know what, so are The Black Crowes. Armed with a new album, Happiness Bastards, that is unsurprisingly great, and an infectious lightness/buoyancy for their reawakened spirit for connecting through music, the band is as essential today as it was over thirty years ago. 
They might be grizzled and greyer, but their passion for extracting the grit and grime of rock ‘n’ roll hasn’t changed. Witnessing that, photographing that, and writing about that is what this review is all about.
I saw them three times on their Southern Harmony and Musical Companion tour. That was not only one of the greatest albums and tours of that decade, it was simply one of the crowning moments in all of rock ‘n’ roll history. No exaggeration.
Go watch any of their shows from 1992, especially the one in Koln, Germany. It has all the electricity of the 1968 US Tour by The Rolling Stones–one of the key influences of the band. The band probably would be seen nowhere near their 1989 Steel Wheels tour. The Black Crowes only do gritty and greasy. 
That era of The Stones died in the ’70s. The Black Crowes have existed to remind us about when rock ‘n’ roll was dangerous, not safe.
As such, when almost all of Generation X was zigging towards the primal sounds emanating out of Seattle, The Black Crowes were zagging into a most hypnotic love affair with the deepest sounds and vibes of ’70s rock culture. And that they delivered them with such bombast and confidence, almost put them in more of a punk rock category.
They absolutely gave zero fucks as to what was going on. They just wanted to be these wanton transmitters of all things Sticky Fingers era Stones meets The Faces meets The Allman Brothers. They succeeded beyond anyone’s imagination right from the get-go.
And tonight, more than three decades later, The Black Crowes triumphantly returned to remind audiences that they are not a nostalgia act. They are relevant artists contributing with almost unparalleled passion to the gritty and soulful fabric of rock ‘n’ roll.
How great were The Black Crowes? I haven’t even started to review the show, and I needed the above preamble to rightfully frame the soulful and spiritual evening that an intimate gathering of Massey Hall, Toronto folks bore witness to.
Before the band hit the stage, the lights went out, and AC/DC’s Long Way To The Top (If You Want to Rock and Roll) was blasted with assertive volume.
The Black Crowes came out rocking with two new songs, Bedside Manner and Dirty Cold Sun, from their latest album, Happiness Bastards. Most bands having the pedigree and catalogue of the band would have started off with any number of classic songs.
Not The Black Crowes. They march to their own beat and have the swagger to start off their set with a freshness proportional to their currency in 2024–bloody well high!
Not to keep raising the bar, but the band hinges on Chris Robinson’s soaring vocal abilities and birth-like need to dance, boogie, shake, and twist. If any one of those goes, then they become like all the other ageing acts on the road–mailing it in.
The band is so good, however, that even if they mailed it in, they are better than most of their peers. But, that’s never been the band’s style and intention. Chris’ high energy pairs off well with his brother Rich, who provides steady harmonies and many of the sweet guitar tones the band is famous for. 
The band’s aforementioned sophomore album was heavily referenced through the night, with My Morning Song, Thorn In My Pride, and No Speak No Slave being crowd favourites. The emotion that these songs draw from the band is something you just have to witness, and no review, even this one, can do it justice.
The band has always been about playing deep tracks, and their own songs are a combined homage to all the deep tracks of their favourite artists. I can hear Moonlight Mile by The Stones. I can hear One Way Out by The Allman Brothers. I can hear For Your Love by Humble Pie. 
I can hear the whole beautiful and still often unappreciated soul of ’70s rock ‘n’ roll. A few times when I heard the sweet guitars of this Atlanta, Georgia band, a part of me smiled, and a part of me cried as I remembered how someone like Dickey Betts was integral to creating this landscape of ‘Southern harmony.’
During the set, Chris Robinson mentioned the band when he talked about the musical wealth that came out of Macon, Georgia.
About 45 minutes into the show, Chris Robinson took his jacket off, almost like an indication he and the band were just getting warmed up. If you had never seen The Black Crowes before, you would think it would be hard to throttle up for the band to find another gear of intensity and emotion. 
Luckily, I saw them at their popularity peak, so I knew that the band was ready to take everyone higher. A cover of Sly and The Family Stone’s I Want To Take You Higher would have been most appropriate.
And tonight, it felt like they were going to get tantalizingly close to their energy from their youth. The youth is permanently gone, but the youthful energy remains.
The Black Crowes not only perform like they are still singing for their supper. They perform like they are singing for the whole audience to eat. The last half of the show was simply a spiritual reckoning of how lucky we are to still have this band in top form.
They ended the show with a perfect balance of the old standards and a nod to the future. And by old, I mean old. They played Chuck Berry’s Carol with the same rambling spirit the Rolling Stones did on their live album Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out.
And, of course, they went to the Otis Redding well with a song that helped launch their stardom, Hard To Handle.
A perfect show had to end in a perfect way. And it did. Only one encore. A slow number called Kindred Friend from their new album. To have the confidence to end such a steaming show with a quiet song that has no history is one fuckin’ bold move.
But this is such a beautiful song that it immediately feels like it has a timeless breeziness to it. The beginning sounds like it could have landed easily on John Lennon’s Double Fantasy album, and by the end, it has a twang between Joe Walsh and the melancholic Stones.
In my upcoming book, Sonic Seducer: Life’s Lust For Our Heaviest Moments, Memories, and Magic of Rock and Roll, one of the chapters is titled Wiser Time, dedicated to my six decades of seeing live music and the wisdom that has been imparted to me because of these experiences.
With perfect irony, it looks like seeing The Black Crowes will be one of my last–if not last–shows before I send the book off to be copyedited/formatted next month.
My love for this band, live music, and the moments that we witness with our eyes and ears has only been more galvanized by seeing the band.
A band that dreamed forever of giving the world musical wisdom of music and musicians whose era has passed, but not their legacies.
If you are in Europe, then this is a tour you must see. Limited Black Crowes tickets are still available from here.
Love Live The Black Crowes. Love live rock ‘n’ roll.
